Corney - Boxing Bournemouth

Boxing Bournemouth – Short History of Cornelius Carr

John Carr was born on April 9 1969 and quickly learned to look after himself on some of the toughest streets in Teeside. He first put on the boxing gloves at Grangetown Amateur Boxing Club and gym founder Martin Turner soon spotted his potential and took the punching prodigy under his wing. Carr became one of the nation’s leading schoolboy boxers before bursting into the senior scene in 1987. He won his England vest in a multi-nations tournament in Sardinia and took the gold against tough opposition.

Then he blasted his way to the ABA middleweight final when he was barely 18 and gave experienced international Rod Douglas a scare in a furious bout that many thought Carr had won. With an impressive 40 wins and just 3 defeats he turned pro.

He signed to Frank Warren, moved to London with the new name of Cornelius to train under Ernie Fossey.

Cornelius trimmed down to Light Middleweight and made a terrific start of 9 unbeaten bouts, his tenth fight to African Bocco George in reading was his first professional loss, but he was soon back on track, back at Middleweight and picking up the tricks of the trade, not least from a spell in the US that included some tough sparring sessions inside Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Cornelius then left the Warren Camp and went to the States for 4 months, he then came back home and teamed up with one of the best trainers in the Country Howard Rainey and went on to win British Super-Middleweight Championship and after a series of convincing wins his big chance came as he stepped back up at Super-Middleweight and was pitched in against WBO world champ Steve Collins in front of a 7000 crowd at the Point Dublin in November 1995.
After a furious bout Collins just edged out the Teesider on points but the Irishman knew it had been close and afterwards prophetically said; “Carr has got a lot of heart. He could be World Champion.”

Carr had a series of of set backs with 1 opponent pulling out of a World Title fight due to injury and then an unfortunate loss. But dogged Carr bounced back, worked his way back into contention with London based trainer Chris Hall then earned another chance with a crack at former double world welterweight champ Simon Brown for the vacant WBF crown.

But disaster struck as Brown withdrew through injury. A hasty replacement was found in Steve Foster, an experienced scrapper delighted to get the chance and determined to take it, but Carrs hunger was greater and he battled his way to the ultimate prize in a memorable night of fighting passion.

Carr sucessfully defended his crown against Dingaan Thobela, beating the South African legend on a majority decision. Unfortunately due to injury, at the top of his career Cornelius had to hang up his gloves and retire from the ring.

Professional Career Record for Cornelius Carr

Date	Lb	Opponent	Lb	Location	Result
28 Feb 2001		Sam Soliman		TBC, Kensington, England	L PTS 6
08 Dec 2000		Gary Beardsley		National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, England	W PTS 4
31 Oct 1999		Dingaan Thobela		David Lloyd Club, Raynes Park, England	W PTS 12
WBF World Middleweight Title
20 Aug 1999		Jason Barker		Royal National Hotel, Bloomsbury, England	W RSF 3
20 Feb 1999		Steve Foster		Pavilion, Thornaby, England	W PTS 12
WBF World Middleweight Title
25 Nov 1998		Jimmy Vincent		Ceasars Nightclub, Streatham, England	W PTS 6
27 Oct 1998		Danny Juma		Fountain Leisure Centre, Brentford, England	W PTS 6
10 Sep 1998		Darren Covill		Town Hall, Acton, England	W TD 2
14 Mar 1997		Dean Francis		TBC, Reading, England	L RSF 7
WBO Intercontinental Title
02 Mar 1996		Danny Juma		TBC, Newcastle, England	W PTS 8
25 Nov 1995	167.5	Steve Collins	167.75	The Point, Dublin, Ireland	L UPTS 12
WBO Title
07 Jul 1995		Barry Thorogood		Ice Palace, Cardiff, Wales	W RSF 6
13 May 1995		Chris Richards		Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland	W RTD 3
04 Feb 1995		Colin Manners		National Ice Rink, Cardiff, Wales	W PTS 8
11 Mar 1994		James Cook		York Hall, Bethnal Green, England	W PTS 12
British Title
22 Sep 1993		Horace Fleary		TBC, Wembley, England	W PTS 8
19 May 1993		Stan King		TBC, Sunderland, England	W PTS 8
24 Apr 1993		Graham Burton		TBC, Birmingham, England	W PTS 6
29 Oct 1992		Alan Richards		TBC, Bayswater, England	W PTS 8
06 Sep 1991		Marvin O`Brien		TBC, Salemi, Italy	W RSF 7
18 May 1991		Paul Burton		Pallazzo dello Sport, Verbania, Italy	W RSF 3
02 Mar 1991		Carlo Colarusso		TBC, Darlington, England	W PTS 8
16 Feb 1991		Frank Eubanks		Pavilion, Thornaby, England	W RSF 5
27 Oct 1990		Jerry Nestor		TBC, Greenville, United States	W KO 1
26 Sep 1990		John Maltreaux		TBC, New Orleans, United States	W KO 1
21 Apr 1990		Franki Moro		Crowtree Leisure Centre, Sunderland, England	W PTS 8
20 Feb 1990		Peter Gorny		London Arena, Millwall, England	W RSF 4
24 Oct 1989		Carlo Colarusso		TBC, Watford, England	W RTD 4
22 Mar 1989		George Bocco		TBC, Reading, England	L RSF 3
20 Dec 1988		Kevin Hayde		TBC, Swansea, Wales	W PTS 6
15 Nov 1988		Skip Jackson		TBC, Norwich, England	W KO 1
10 May 1988		Andy Catesby		TBC, Tottenham, England	W RSF 5
12 Apr 1988		Franki Moro		TBC, Cardiff, Wales	W PTS 6
29 Mar 1988		Darren Parker		York Hall, Bethnal Green, England	W RSF 1
24 Mar 1988	155	Darren Parker	158	York Hall, Bethnal Green, England	W RSF 1
27 Jan 1988		Kesem Clayton		York Hall, Bethnal Green, England	W PTS 6
12 Jan 1988		Shamus (Seamus) Casey		TBC, Cardiff, Wales	W RSF 6
28 Nov 1987		Dave Heaver		TBC, Windsor, England	W RSF 2
22 Sep 1987		Paul Burton		York Hall, Bethnal Green, England	W RSF 5

Boxing Bournemouth - Cornelius Carr

5 out of 5 stars

Stuart Buckley

posted 1 month ago

Dave and I have been boxing with Cornelius for approx. 5 years now and in short, we are both in agreement that our decision to start training with Cornelius was one of the most positive decisions we have made; as a lifestyle choice, the most positive.

We are both in our early 40’s but agree that we have never felt fitter and healthier. We train at 6.30 in the morning, which can be tough at times (cold winter, new born baby in house etc), but however we feel going into the session, it is the one of hour of the week where we think about nothing other than the session itself

We train hard and sparring is competitive, but never aggressive – the boxing ring is no place for direct aggression; it is about technique, skill and a good set of lungs. Cornelius will push, encourage and improve us; staying fully engaged from first to last minute. With Cornelius it really is about the more you want out of the session, the more you will get out of it.

Top fella Cornelius, the best hour of the week mate

Dave and Stu

John Dowd

posted 4 months ago

I have been having 1-to-1 30-minute sessions with Cornelius for 1 month.
Cornelius is a superb trainer who has a great ethos towards fitness and training. He has very quickly understood my fitness level and he has a great way of pushing me to the next level. In addition, he is also a very nice positive guy.

The balance between learning boxing and fitness from the 1-to1 sessions gives me a great sense of achievement and is perfect for my busy work life where I can 'switch off'.

I highly recommend Cornelius for all of the above reasons and I look forward to continuing my training with him and improving my boxing from a world champion.

Jessica Hobbs

posted 3 months ago

I've been going with a friend for about a month, and already feel a lot fitter and stronger from just doing an hour a week. Cornelius is really good at pushing us further every week, and he makes it fun and keeps us motivated even if we're struggling. It's a really relaxed environment and not at all intimidating. Definitely recommend :)